Gippsland Critical Minerals (GCM) today provided an update on its program of work to rescope the Fingerboards Project including 12 initial design changes to address community feedback and develop a better project for East Gippsland.
The update was provided at the first meeting of the GCM Community Reference Group held in Lindenow this week. GCM CEO Michelle Wood said: “It was great to hold our first meeting with members of the Community Reference Group. This is our key advisory body to support engagement between our project team and the local community, and we are grateful to members for sharing their time and views.
“We had a lively discussion with a wide range of issues raised at the meeting. We also conducted a tour of the Fingerboards Project site to help them understand our initial plans and provide feedback.”
“We shared details of the significance of the Fingerboards critical minerals deposit, an overview of mining and rehabilitation methods and an update on our rescoping work, including details of 12 initial changes to the project.
“We clarified that GCM will rescope the project through an iterative design process during 2025, with regular opportunities for the community to influence the project design. By December 2025, we will resubmit the project to the Minister for Planning, and we expect to commence a formal EES in 2026.
“We also outlined why the Fingerboards deposit is unique and important to Australia. This includes its ability to supply over 7% of the global supply of the heavy rare earths Dysprosium and Terbium that are used in high-performance permanent magnets key to renewable energy infrastructure and electric vehicles. We also discussed our commitment to prioritising onshore processing.
“The potential to create 300 trainable permanent jobs over the life of the mine received positive feedback, with members emphasising the need to employ local people and establish a local procurement strategy. We addressed the perception held among some members of the broader community that this project would adopt a Fly-In-Fly-Out model, stating that prioritising local jobs makes social and economic sense.
“Key concerns raised by the CRG included noise, dust, water run-off, and effects on amenity and lifestyle, which GCM aims to minimise and/or mitigate to the greatest extent possible and within regulatory standards.”
Fingerboards Project - Key Initial Changes*
No mining 1.5 kilometres from the Lindenow Valley Horticultural Area or in the Perry, Simpson and Lucas Creek gullies to mitigate dust and noise concerns and protect native vegetation.
Slowing the ore mining rate by 40% and spread over two smaller mining units to reduce noise, dust and truck traffic and extending the mine’s life from 15 to 22 years.
Mining a smaller area at any one time (smaller voids) to allow faster re-filling of the void, enabling quicker rehabilitation and the return of land to agricultural and other community uses.
Less on-surface trucks because overburden is largely removed with an in-pit dozer push reducing on-surface haul and reducing noise and dust.
New rehabilitation strategy responding to farmer feedback to prioritise returning the land to pasture vegetation - together with areas rehabilitated with native grasses. The rehabilitation strategy will be validated with a demonstration pit.
Examining options for new process plant and rail siding locations so truck movements from the process plant to the rail location will be on private roads.
New strategy to create certainty over the estimated 3.0 GL/year water usage including increased allocations for dust suppression and revegetation irrigation, with water sourced from ground and surface water such as the deep Latrobe aquifer bore fields and winter-fill water from the Mitchell River.
Improved long-term community water security as a legacy benefit of the mine including improved dam infrastructure to support irrigation for local horticulture during drought periods.
Co-disposal and below-ground tailings removing the risk of dam breaks from an elevated tailings storage dam and no filling of the Perry Gully (as proposed in 2021). This will also eliminate the need for the centrifuges that were previously proposed.
New purpose-built concentrate storage shed replacing previously proposed open-air stockpiles to reduce dust.
Prioritising onshore processing of the heavy mineral concentrate to support Australian manufacturing and national security.
Preservation of Fingerboards Intersection and fewer road relocations across the proposed project to preserve more large trees on the road reserves.
Michelle added: “A lot of work has gone in to get us to this point and there is still a lot more to do. Our team is committed to listen, learn and change as we gather more information. Our aim is to continually share information and seek feedback as we complete rescoping work for the Fingerboards Project this year.
“Our priority is to develop a new Fingerboards project that can co-exist with local industries such agriculture and that delivers enduring benefits to the local community.”
For media inquiries, contact:
Paul Edwards
T: 0434-070101 / E: pedwards@gippslandcriticalminerals.com
